Spring has "officially" sprung...

...on 21 March, and that means Keukenhof is open :-)) I am determined to get my act together this year and pay a visit to NL's famous, and very beautiful, flower gardens. The gardens are spread over an area of about 70 acres and during the spring "season" over 7 million bulbs are blooming in unison! The gardens were first opened just after WWII and quickly became famous around the world. Famous enough (and prestigious enough) even for Queen Juliana and her husband Prince Bernhard to celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary there in 1962.

Now despite the fact that the tulip has become a symbol of the Netherlands, it is actually a wildflower originating in Turkey over 500 years ago and imported to NL. It was quickly adopted as their own, and for some reason that insignificant looking little bulb caused economic madness here during the 1600's. Apparently there was a massive illegal market for the bulbs, which saw trade leading to massive fortunes being won and lost. When eventually the bulb market crashed, thousands of Dutch businessmen were financially ruined overnight!

Alli xxx

PS Mum, I promise to take lots of photos! :-))